The NonExistent Calm After The Storm
by inherit-absence-of-light
Summary: there can be no victory without loss, no end without questions asked. i'm here to answer these questions. but what do a mysterious girl, Death the Kid's stripes, and Excalibur have to do with it? rated t for possible language
1. Chapter 1

**THE NON-EXISTENT CALM AFTER THE STORM**

**Note: hey guys! It's been a while, but I've decided to try something new! I recently started reading/ watching **_**soul eater,**_** and I'm officially obsessed. But I was a tad disappointed by the ending of the anime series. This story was a result of my disappointment.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own soul eater. If I did, tadpole Jackson would be rollin' with the good guys!**__

**Prologue- IT'S NOT OVER YET**

The battle was over. All was well. But, as with everything in the land of meisters and weapons, there can be no victory without loss.

Standing high above the battle field where loss could all but reach them, seven children stood marvelling in the day's win, smiling at the blue sky and the lack of the madness they had all but come to think of as normal.

Maka Albarn, daughter of the death scythe Spirit, single-handed conqueror of the Kishin, Asura.

Soul Eater Evans, acceptor of the madness that would always be a part of him, clapping his hand on the back of the best partner ever.

BlackStar; Assassin; The last of his kind; who had fulfilled his destiny and surpassed the gods.

Tsubaki, weapon, clapping her hands while wondering what to make for dinner.

Liz Thompson, no longer afraid of monsters.

Patty Thomson, her sister, thinking about giraffes.

And Death the Kid, his head hanging, not even able to revel in the sky's symmetry.

The Death god's son put up his head as if to say something, but the mysterious stripes in his hair flickered and he fell backwards, his eyes rolling into his head.

"KID!" The chorus of screams, produced by his weapons and friends alike, fell on the empty ears of the unconscious Shinigami.

Meanwhile, in the remains of the death room, Spirit sat up sharply as the kishin's barrier disappeared. He promptly hissed in pain and rubbed the bandages that covered his chest. He looked over at Lord Death, who looked worried behind his goofy mask. Spirit was reminded that they both had children up there. He was about to stand to retrieve his daughter, now tired of sending his positive energy her way, when he heard the screams that could only be coming from the students. Was this not over? If only they could hear what was being said…

Beside him, Lord Death tensed. The yelling continued, and everyone began to look alarmed. Hearing his son's name with his delicate reaper senses, the Shinigami swooped out of the hole in the wall; heading towards what he thought was a fight between his Death the Kid and a weakened kishin.

How wrong he was. He arrived on the platform where all of the students were kneeling in a circle, and realized that his son was in the middle, unconscious, his soul wavelength retreating. He pushed his way to the centre, receiving surprised looks from the students who thought him dead. Ignoring this, he snapped his ridiculously large fingers in front of the boy's face, receiving no response. Becoming more worried, he gathered the fragile form in his arms, and flew back to the death room, handing the boy off to Nygus, a sad expression on his face. He took a seat and rested his chin in his hands. Stein followed after her to assess kid's condition, leaving as the rest of the students from the platform entered the room. Realizing the somber attitude in the room, everyone took seats round the reaper, not saying anything. Waiting…

A few minutes later, Stein returned to the room, and lord death lifted his head beginning to speak. The doctor held up a finger and turned to the children.

"What happened to him?" he asked curiously. " I need to know before I can properly treat him. " there was an intensity in his tone that the children had only heard when he spoke of dissecting something, and Maka turned to BlackStar, worry in her green eyes.

"BlackStar," she asked him gently, "what happened while Soul and I were…unconscious?"

"I surpassed god, of course," said the cocky assassin, receiving dirty looks all around the small circle. "But now that you mention it, kid started talking about how he wanted me to back him up 'till he was ready, but that didn't work for me, because no one steals my spotlight. And then…"

"BlackStar!" shouted everyone in unison, making him jump slightly.

"Ok, ok, calm down. So anyway, kid started talking about how he had to avenge his father, which is stupid because he's not even dead. So," at this, Maka produced a book and chopped him over the head with it, a murderous look in her eyes. Everyone then turned the Tsubaki, who shrugged apologetically and said wistfully, "I'm sorry, but I don't know how to explain it." Everyone nodded and turned to the ones in the circle who would know the most. Liz and Patty looked up, and Liz took a steadying breath before beginning;

"We started to resonate, and it was all going fine, until the Kishin…" she proceeded to tell them everything. The stab wounds, the failure of their soul's link, the fire, and the strongest resonance she had ever experienced. When she got to the part about the stripes in his hair conjoining, becoming, in so many words, symmetrical, the room quieted and somber giggles were shared. Everyone with the exception of BlackStar, who was lying on the floor with a smoking dent in his head, laughed at the expense of the reaper whose life hung in the balance in some other room.

"I bet he really enjoyed that, didn't he?" asked Maka, her hand over her mouth to stifle her laughter. "The symmetry?"

Liz and Patty chuckled, and quizzically turned to lord death, realizing that the elder god hadn't spoken, not even laughed. It may have been funny, but the still wanted answers. They needed to know what had happened to their weapon, and what was going to happen now.

Shinigami-Sama had a distant look on his face (or mask) and was wearing a wistful smile.

"It's starting."

**Ok guys, sorry it was so short, but I'm working on the next chapter right now. I have a small idea where this is going, but nothing is set in stone. Expect the next update soon!**

**-Death the Chick-**

**PS. the review button likes to be pushed. Flamers, how dare you insult me, for someday I will surpass god! Yahoo!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry for the wait guys. Love ya.**

**CHAPTER 2-A REAPER'S WORLD**

Everyone looked puzzled and raised their eyebrows at the old reaper. Only Maka was brave enough to address him directly.

"I'm sorry sir, but what's starting?"

Shinigami-Sama smiled wistfully. Due to the on-the-rocks nature of their relationship, it was not very often that he knew something that Kid's friends did not. He was quite enjoying the sensation. He looked at the ceiling, trying to find the right words. But Liz spoke up, providing the opportunity he had been searching for.

"Those lines in his hair," she said, smiling sadly, "they aren't just stripes, are they?" Lord Death shook his head in the negative. Soul, along with both Thompson sisters, snorted at the revelation. BlackStar, awake now and nursing a bump on his head, gawked at the headmaster.

"Does HE know that!" he asked in amazement, his mouth in an "o" shape.

"Not exactly," Shinigami-Sama replied, and everyone laughed. Patty with the typical "kya ha ha," and BlackStar a 'big man' guffaw. Everyone except the Shinigami. Because there was a reason Kid didn't know the truth about his stripes. There had definitely been tension offsetting the father/son dynamic lately, and the atmosphere had been stressed at the best of times. One by one, the members of the group realized this, and the mood sobered immediately.

However, none of this answered the children's most pressing questions. Tsubaki spoke next.

"But sir," she began, speaking mutedly and looking at her hands, "if they're not just stripes, what are they?"

The reaper looked at her, thankful for her finally asking that particular question. "The lines of Sanzu," he said simply. "They mark Kid as a shinigami, and they are the source of his power. But they reach only halfway around his head to signify that he has not yet awakened into a Reaper's world. That day will soon come, however, and based on what you all witnessed tonight, I feel bad for the unfortunate blue-haired ninja assassin on the receiving end." He finished with a smile. Maka realized that in all this time, he hadn't spoken in the usual "hey, yo, wassup," manner, nor the centuries old voice of doom they had heard in memories. Instead, he had taken a new tone entirely. Cool, calculating, powerful, and almost-human. He sounded a lot like kid. It was odd. BlackStar stood up looking ill.

"I'd better be careful around the pillars at DWMA from now on," he said nervously, "or else Kid's Sanzu lines will connect, and I won't live long enough to surpass god." Everyone laughed, but seeing as he and Tsubaki were the only outsiders who had witnessed Kid's abilities as a full Shinigami, he looked genuinely frightened and again took his seat.

Patty, who had been uncharacteristically quiet during the entire ordeal, silently looked up from a rip in her shorts and, in a less than Patty-like tone that nobody present, save for Liz, had ever heard her use, said "this is just the beginning, isn't it?" professor stein looked at her and smiled creepily, before going into monotonous educational lecture mode.

"What happened tonight was a rare occurrence at best. I've read enough about Shinigami to know that Sanzu lines connect individually, over long periods of time. To have them meet all at once like this is almost unheard of, and is also a clear indicator of how kid must have been feeling at the time. There aren't many publications on this sort of thing, though." At that he turned away, mumbling about dissection. Shinigami-Sama nodded in agreement with Stein's assessment.

"I too believe this to be a unique circumstance," he said gravely. "I'm sure Kid experienced some emotions tonight that he was not used to feeling. Rage, guilt, sadness, fear, and grief are all things that as a species, we are designed to tuck away deep inside ourselves, never to be used. It takes a lot of trauma to make us feel so much, and the consequences of such feelings, recklessness combined with the power of Sanzu, lead to situations like these, I fear."

Stein nodded again. "Yes. It would seem that the night's events have sapped kid of all of his strength. And though he was able to withstand much more injury than any of us, what energy he had left after the Sanzu transformation went to repairing those injuries, and now he's completely drained. He'll be forced to recover at an entirely human level. But as of right now, the stability of his condition is in question."

Shinigami-sama nodded and then shrugged his shoulders. Maka, who had been wringing her hands nervously, turned to face him, her hair flying around and rage burning its wand and rage burning its way across her features.

"How can you be so nonchalant!" She shrieked at him, her voice shooting two octaves skywards before the end of the question. Lord Death raised an eyebrow at her, but then looked sad.

"I'm worried about him too, Maka," he told her, and she looked down guiltily, "but Kid…how can I put this? Kid has always been…strong. Stronger than he should have been as a half-fledged Shinigami. And based on the tale I have heard tonight, I am confident that once Kid is able to connect his Sanzu lines properly, there will be no stopping him." Everyone was silent for a minute, and Maka gazed apologetically at lord death. He nodded at her, smiling, before saying something that no one could have anticipated hearing next.

"He tried to fight _me_ once, you know."

Liz snorted and Patty 'kya ha ha'-d "we never did have a rematch," she said airily. Everyone else was too shocked to say anything. They finally picked their bottom jaws up off of the floor when BlackStar shouted, "WHAT! WHAT HAPPENED! WHO WON?"

Liz turned to face him smiling. "Really, BlackStar, it all started when kid tracked the two of us," she gestured at herself and Patty, "in New York. When he finally convinced us to accompany him, he took us into the woods to train, to practise our resonance."

Patty threw herself across Liz's lap interjecting, "CAMPING!"

Liz patted her head and smiled. "Yes Patty, Camping. Anyway, we spent almost 3 weeks in the forest, before returning to Death City. Kid was…well…he was a little bit over-stimulated. He was excited about getting his weapons and about the success he was having, and he was cocky. With him, it has always been 'I'm strong and I know it.' We gave him an attitude adjustment real quick though, didn't we Patty? And I'm glad we did, or it would have been like living with two of this kid." She finished, pointing at BLackStar, who crossed his arms defiantly.

Shinigami-Sama nodded and continued. "Yes. So when kid returned from training with his new weapons he was more than eager to put the techniques he had acquired to the test. And as the founder of the DWMA, as an educator, and as his father, I couldn't refuse him the opportunity to show his skills. He refused to hold back, and I did what I could without a deathscythe. The battle lasted almost an entire day. Since he hadn't had weapons, I had been training kid only in martial arts for his entire life. His skills were nearing my level. His ability with the win pistols was good. Sub-par, but he showed immense potential. We were evenly matched, but we called the fight a draw when Kid ripped his pants on only one knee and passed out. Without that particular quirk, he may very well have beaten me that day. But as it stands, a rematch will happen eventually, and when it does, I have no doubts about who the winner will be." He concluded with a stiff nod and sat back.

Soul blinked twice and grimaced. "Remind me never to piss him off."

Everyone had questions about something or another, which lord death was more than happy to answer. Seeing that the conversation was coming to a close, and still feeling bad about yelling at the headmaster, Maka stood, wiped her hands on her skirt, and left the circle, walking to where Crona sat with Ms. Marie, still wrapped in Professor Stein's lab coat. She opened her mouth to speak to him but was distracted when Nygus burst into the room, her eyes panicked.

``Dr. Stein!" she yelled shrilly. He met her eyes and all was silent for a moment. Maka had a sense that he was matching Nygus` soul wavelength. After a while, his eyes widened, and he turned to face her.

``We`ll be needing your help,`` he told Maka authoritively. She stood without argument and followed them, all three shooting glances at a worried looking Shinigami-Sama as they left. When they were safely packed into what Maka suspected was the only non-damaged corridor off of the death room, Nygus filled them in, never slowing her pace.

``I was able to successfully close Kid`s chest wound, which was the most substantial injury," she said, slightly out of breath, ``but his condition is still deteriorating as if we hadn`t treated it at all." Stein nodded, having already heard this through Nygus` soul. But Maka`s mouth had fallen into a small "o," and she couldn't help but wonder…what was wrong with Kid?

They came to a stop outside of a non-descript room. On the other side of the door they were greeted by a depressing white curtain, and beyond that Maka saw two things. Kid, lying on his back on a table and looking steadily worse for the wear, and a short, nerdy, nursing assistant who Nygus Introduced as Geoff. Geoff looked nervous and pale and he began conversing with Nygus in hushed tones as soon as they entered.

Stein ushered Maka into a corner of this "operating room," causing her to momentarily take her eyes off of Death The kid's still form. The professor put his hand on her shoulder. "Maka," he said, "I need you to use your perception abilities to search Kid's soul. We might find something there that could help. I know it's difficult, but I need you to concentrate. Do you understand me?" she nodded and walked over to the table where the unconscious Kid lay.

Had he only been sleeping, Maka would have laughed. His mouth lolling open, she half expected him to snore. His hair spilled around him in such a way so that his Sanzu lines looked more like white patches than stripes in his black mop. However, his trademark shirt, tie, and jacket had been removed, exposing his pale (yet fairly muscular) chest, which was stained with small amounts of blood and showcased a closed wound much like the one Soul had sustained all that time ago.

Shaking her impressions of him off, Maka closed her eyes and searched for Kid's soul. Sensing it's presence, she pulled it towards her. Finally grasping it she was shocked at what she saw. The soul had a wound identical to the one on Kid's chest, but this one hadn't been neatly stitched. The soul's blood, navy in colour and inky in texture, pooled around the orb, going as far as to stain the clean, white, Sanzu lines.

Maka shivered and opened her eyes, returning to the present. She knew what she had to do. She turned and flung the door open, running down the corridor as fast as her "fat-ankled" legs would carry her. She did not turn around. Not when Nygus called her name, and not when she felt the cool grasp of Professor Stein's soul wavelength. She burst into the death room. Everyone looked up at her in surprise. She ignored them.

"Marie!" she shouted, and the blonde jumped. Knowing immediately that she was needed, she silently followed, patting the pink hair on Crona's head before jogging down the corridor after the young scythemeister.

Out of breath , Maka stopped outside of Kid's room and explained, "Nygus has repaired Kid's physical injuries, but his soul has been wounded as well, and I think that if you were to use your healing wavelength, like you did with Crona, we could stop he damage before…well…before something bad happens."

Marie nodded, her lips pressed together in a firm line. They swept into the room and around the white curtain. Marie set to work immediately. She placed her palms on Kids chest and closed her eyes. Maka paced wildly, praying that this would work. Stein, Geoff, and Nygus, confused by the new arrival, did nothing. Minutes passed, and Marie looked up from her work, looking exhausted.

"That should do it," she said tiredly, "kid needs to rest now. He should wake up in a few hours."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and Nygus told Geoff to find a nicer room for Kid to recover in. Stein put a hand on Maka's shoulder, smiling.

"Let's go tell the others."

There was stony silence in the death room when they entered. Liz was Pacing, Patty rocked back and forth on the floor, and Lord Death sat completely still, elbows on Knees with his head in his hands. He looked up searchingly when Stein and Maka entered, and the Girls stopped moving. Maka sat down and everyone looked worried, until they saw her smile. Over contented sighs and yells of joy, maka didn't know if anyone even heard heer say "kid's gonna be just fine."


End file.
